Looking to buy an SLR Film Camera..?

Question

I'm wanting to buy an SLR Film Camera. What can you recommend. I am an avid photographer ready to take it to the next level. Not to expensive, but good photos. I heard Nikon was good...

Answer 1

Buy either a Nikon or Canon camera, such as a Nikon N-80 (autofocus), Nikon FM-10 (manual focus), Canon EOS Elan 7N (autofocus), or one of the Canon Rebel cameras.

Get one "general purpose lens" of a wide-to-tele zoom of the same brand as your camera in the 35-105 range.

The Pentax K1000 is certainly a proven student camera that would serve you well, but you'll have to shop used, as it is not a current model. It has been replaced by the KX-M, which looks like a good student camera.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

Canon EOS Elan 7N 35mm SLR Autofocus Camera Kit with Canon 28-105mm f/4-5.6 EF Lens

Nikon N80 35mm SLR Autofocus Camera Body with Nikon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D IF Autofocus Lens

My reasons for suggesting Nikon or Canon is so that you can have the widest possibile selection of high quality lenses available to you. Once you have really gotten into photography, you will have a few lenses and then you can keep your top quality lenses and upgrade to a more expensive camera in the same line. Pentax is another fine camera with a huge line of lenses and I always owned Pentax film cameras, but I think you have even more to choose from in Nikon and Canon, so these are the brands I have recommended to my own children.

See kehkohjones's answer http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhTCVUQ3G2q8KUh2Ixuq6APsy6IX?qid=20061126151644AA2H1VE

Answer 2

Alan is right. I've shot Nikon my whole life and they've always delivered on more than one level. Nikons are built like tanks. Depending on how much money you want to spend, I'd HIGHLY recommend buying something used. The Nikon F4 can be had for as little as $500, and in the late 80s/early 90s was their flagship model used by journalists the world over. The F4 has shutter priority, aperture priority and automatic settings (although I usually stick to manual) as well as auto focus.

If you don't need those features, the Nikon FM2 (or FM2n which syncs at 1/250th instead of 1/125th) with an MD-12 motor drive will set you back as little as $200-400. It too was a flagship model that was used in the late 70s/early 80s.

I own both of these cameras and love them.

I buy all my gear used and have never had a problem. I do recommend taking any used gear to your local repair shop to get it cleaned and serviced just in case there are light leaks, old seals, etc.

If you've got the money, grab an F5 or F6 which allow autofocus in several different areas of the viewfinder. Now that the F6 is out, a lot of people are dumping their F5s for a fraction of what they sell for new.

Other people swear by Canon and who's going to argue? These two companies are the giants of the 35mm field and for good reason. I'm not sure about Canon, but Nikon's older, manual lenses work with newer, auto-focus models.

Eventually you may want to consider shooting medium format. The resolution and contrast ratio is miles above what you'll get with even the best 35mm. Before you buy anything, you might want to consider renting these models for a weekend.

Answer 3

Good advise so far :-)
I shoot Nikon, so I'll suggest the F100. Fabulous, well built camera, great autofocus, bright viewfinder. (That gets waaaayyyyyyyy more important as you get older, LOL) The F100 does not have a pop up flash, so you'd need to get a hot shoe flash, an SB28 or SB600 is just fine. You should be able to find one in EX condition for around $400, maybe a little less if you get lucky.

Oh oh oh! I forget to mention a lens!
The Nikkor 50mm 1.8 prime lens is possibly the best bang for the buck on the planet! Sharp through it's entire range, nice bokeh, and cheap....about $100 new. Everybody used to start photography with a 50mm lens, now it's all zoom zoom. Nothing wrong with that, but the 50mm lens is superior in every way to a cheap consumer zoom.

Good luck in finding the perfect camera!

Answer 4

just brought one at WWW.WINDOWSBARGAINS.COM/28492 I got 20% OFF